Trauma knocks us down and changes our lives forever. Sexual assault, violence, neglect, emotional abuse – these experiences steal our sense of safety, flood our bodies with stress, and can take years to recover from whether we’re 5 or 55.
There is something about childhood trauma, though, that not only shapes our mental health but our sense of who we are. There are no perfect answers to explain why trauma, even exposure to the same trauma, affects some people differently than others.
According to the American Psychological Association, factors like family support, ongoing life stressors, prior trauma exposure, and psychiatric comorbidities all impact our ability to recover after a traumatic event.
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